Hi all!

My husband and I are planning a trip to Paris, Normandy, and Mont st Michele with another couple. We only have one week and know it's quick, but need a little help with logistics. Our plan is as follows:

April 2: Arrive in Paris at 8am
April 3: Paris
April 4: Paris
April 5: Train to Caen, pick up car, drive Normandy, sleep in Bayeux
April 6: See Normandy, sleep in Bayeux
April 7: Drive to MSM, sleep in MSM
April 8: Return up Paris
April 9: Fly home

My main questions are these:
1. Should we go straight to MSM from Paris on April 5? It's a longer drive, but then we'd be there on a week day rather than a weekend. Would it be less crowded? We plan on getting to MSM late in the afternoon, spending the night and also visiting in the morning, so hopefully missing most of the visitors anyway.
2. Should we rent a car in Paris or train to Caen and rent there?
3. If we drive straight to MSM, is there stops along the way that are must sees, not including Normandy as we will spend another two days there.

Thank you for your help!
Amanda

I'd train to Rennes pick up rental car there at station - drive to Mont-Saint-Michel and over to Bayeux and take train from Caen where you can return car and take train back to Paris - this would save you lots of time driving and you really have little time to stop off if driving from Paris. Book train tickets early at www.voyages-sncf.com for nice discounts - www.seat61.com has great advice on booking own tickets online - general info trains BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

That looks like a good plan. Would you recommend speeding a few hours in Rennes? It looks like an adorable town.

Yes I did that and like it - would not stay overnight but yes pick up rental car- put bags in trunk and walk thru the town center. Not sure I would call it adorable but for French large cities rather nice. The drive to MSM would take only about an hour or so so you have plenty of time.

And you should IMO stay the night either on MSM or in the gaggle of hotels on mainland just opposite it - seeing the Mont gloriously illuminated at night from afar is cool. And traipsing around nearly empty streets at night is cool too. Try to do both views.

I found Rennes absolutely delightful and was glad to have a day or so there.

By “see Normandy” do you mean some of the sites associated with WWII? Normandy itself is, of course, way to large to see in a day.

If there is any chance that you will have jet lag – and if you are coming from Colorado, as your profile indicates, then you will have jet lag -- I would strongly encourage you to take public transportation for your first night or two. Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience! And please be patient with me if you think I’m being overly adamant, but I know too many people who have died or been seriously injured in accidents to which jet lag was a contributing factor, and I know too many people who will spend the rest of their lives dealing with the knowledge that they were responsible for accidents that resulted in multiple deaths, including those of children, all because they were too confident in their ability to drive safely with jet lag. The issue has become a bit of cause célèbre for me….

Hello!
For me, your plan looks really good! I think you will have a very good time there. However, there is a lot of free guides on Internet such "XX tips to visit Paris in 2, 3, 4 days" so I think there are a lot of advices there. Have a nice trip!

Be sure to leave some time to explore Bayeux itself -one of few towns not ravaged by WW2 and with a sweet cathedral and museum with Queen Matilhda's 1066 Tapestry in it that documented the 1066 Norman Invasion and Conquest of Saxon King Harold's England. Bayeux is a nice small city - great base. En route to Caen stop at the Caen Memorial - the best overall museum documenting D-Day and beyond operations - huge relief map. Would be a good first stop if training to Caen to rent car as is a great orientation to the area.

For a large French town, many of which I find rather blah - Rennes is nice. Would be nice to stay there and have a full day but with OP's limited time I'd take a quick look around for a few hours and get to MSM for the night or if reversing route return car at Rennes train station after you've looked around for a few hours - leave bags in trunk then take TGV back to Paris.

PalenQ gave good advice....we did a similar trip last year and rented our cars outside of the train stations in smaller towns, rather than trying to drive in Paris. MSM is wonderful, but do try to see some of the small towns on the way. I keep a travel blog to share our daily experiences. Take a look and my posts about Bayeux, MSM, etc....may help you in planning.

http://jonestravelblog.com

Have a great trip!

Yes instead of taking main roadstraight between say Bayeux and Mont-S-Michel be sure to stop in a nice smaller town like Avranches from whose town center's botanical gardens there is a wondrous view od MSM hovering across the bay in the distances and have lunch at some off-the radar cafe. Coutances is another sweet regional town to stop in.

DW and I have done the same type of thing two times, with different folks, our niece and nephew and then later with another couple. I still regret not staying on MSM or near it, we stayed in the same hotel on the coast in Port en Bessin (near Bayeux) each time. I would agree with the Rennes train, rent car and MSM. Then next morning, head back towards Bayeux area along the coast. Not sure if by "Normandy" you mean the countryside, or the WWII sites. If the latter, I would leave MSM the morning and head to the Utah Beach area and the museum there. Then work your way east to Pointe du Hoc. Next day, American Cemetery, Arromanche, etc. and then finish up in Bayeux at the cathedral and tapestry. Next morning, head to Caen and stop at the peace Museum, return car at the trains station and head to Paris. Hotel there the last evening and catch cab to CDG for your flight on the 9th.

Wow! So much great information! I appreciate it. We have decided to go to MSM straight after Paris and then spend time in Normandy on our way back to Paris for our return flight. We have two full days, plus a half day for visiting Normandy. We want to see both WWII sights as well as the country side. Any specific recommendations? I would love to see the white cliffs at Etretat, but not sure if that is a possibility given it's another hour away. Any other places with similar surroundings that might be more on the way? Also, one of our group members would love to see Giverny. How will the gardens be in the beginning of April? And would that be a good stop to drop our car and train back to Paris? Thanks for your insight!

Do you mean 2.5 days after you've seen the WWII sites or is that all you have for all of Normandy?

There are plenty of worthy sites to visit in Normandy besides the WWII sites (though I would devote at least 2 days to them, including the beaches, the American Cemetery, Point du Hoc, Arromanches, the Mémorial in Caen...): Fougères, Vitré, Alençon, Avranche, La Vallée de la Misère, Deauville/Trouville, Honfleur, Rouen.....

No, dropping the car off at Giverny probably isn't possible. I doubt there's a car rental office there, and if there is, would it be the company you rented from? Anyway, bad idea. Drop the car off in Chartres or somewhere there's a rental office of the company you rent from.

MSM and D-Day Bayeux will take all your time (and perhaps more) - rent car in Rennes and return in Caen. Bayeux has few if any car places. Giverny is an easy day trip from Paris.

I really recommend a guided tour for D-Day landing beaches. We took a tour with Viator, and it was very insightful. There was only one other couple on the tour, so the guide tailored the tour for our interests. For instance, the father of the fellow tourist was involved in logistics for the landing, so the guide gave very detailed information regarding how they managed all the supplies and tanks for the invasion. Well worth the money.
We stayed right on the MSM and it is a lasting memory. I would say the quality of the hotel wasn't the best, but of course the buildings are very old and you are paying a premium for atmosphere.
We had an excellent lunch at Le Garde Manger in Bayeaux.

Gourmet restaurant La Mère Poulard Mont Saint Michel - La Mère Poulard Hôtel*** - Restaurants

Not saying it is best restaurant on MSMichel but legendary for their singature omelettes.

IMO, their "legendary" omelettes are disgusting. Worst omelette I've ever had, and obscenely expensive. How anyone could take a perfectly good egg and turn it into yellow soup is beyond me. (Of course, this was years ago, because even though I've been to le MSM myriad times I was never going to dare to have another one)

Yes sounds like many say - maybe a tourist trap with only one-time visitors. Yet tripadvisor has better reviews so maybe now the scrambled eggs are better?

Me never wanted to spend the beaucoup money to find out.